unit+6+The+Last+Leaf

When Johnsy fell seriously ill, she seemed to lose the will to hang on to life. The doctor held out little hope for her. Her friends seemed helpless. Was there nothing to be done?
约翰西病情严重，她似乎失去了活下去的意志。医生对她不抱什么希望。朋友们看来也爱莫能助。难道真的就无可奈何了吗？

The Last Leaf
O. Henry
1 At the top of a three-story brick building, Sue and Johnsy had their studio. "Johnsy" was familiar for Joanna. One was from Maine; the other from California. They had met at a cafe on Eighth Street and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so much in tune that the joint studio resulted.
最后一片叶子
欧·亨利
在一幢三层砖楼的顶层，苏和约翰西辟了个画室。“约翰西”是乔安娜的昵称。她们一位来自缅因州，一位来自加利福尼亚。两人相遇在第八大街的一个咖啡馆，发现各自在艺术品味、菊苣色拉，以及灯笼袖等方面趣味相投，于是就有了这个两人画室。
　
2 That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the district, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Johnsy was among his victims. She lay, scarcely moving on her bed, looking through the small window at the blank side of the next brick house.
那是5月里的事。到了11月，一个医生称之为肺炎的阴森的隐形客闯入了这一地区，用它冰冷的手指东碰西触。约翰西也为其所害。她病倒了，躺在床上几乎一动不动，只能隔着小窗望着隔壁砖房那单调沉闷的侧墙。

3 One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a bushy, gray eyebrow.
一天上午，忙碌的医生扬了扬灰白的浓眉，示意苏来到过道。


4 "She has one chance in ten," he said. "And that chance is for her to want to live. Your little lady has made up her mind that she's not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?
“她只有一成希望，”他说。“那还得看她自己是不是想活下去。你这位女朋友已经下决心不想好了。她有什么心事吗？”

5 "She -- she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day," said Sue. “她――她想有一天能去画那不勒斯湾，”苏说。


6 "Paint? -- bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice -- a man, for instance?"
“画画？――得了。她有没有别的事值得她留恋的――比如说，一个男人？”

7 "A man?" said Sue. "Is a man worth -- but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind."
“男人？”苏说。“难道一个男人就值得――可是，她没有啊，大夫，没有这码子事。”

8 "Well," said the doctor. "I will do all that science can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funer

al procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines." After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried. Then she marched into Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling a merry tune.
“好吧，”大夫说。“我会尽一切努力，只要是科学能做到的。可是，但凡病人开始计算她出殡的行列里有几辆马车的时候，我就要把医药的疗效减去一半。”大夫走后，苏去工作室哭了一场。随后她携着画板大步走进约翰西的房间，口里吹着轻快的口哨。

9 Johnsy lay, scarcely making a movement under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window. She was looking out and counting -- counting backward.
约翰西躺在被子下几乎一动不动，脸朝着窗。她望着窗外，数着数――倒数着数！

10 "Twelve," she said, and a little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and "seven," almost together.
“12，”她数道，过了一会儿“11”，接着数“10”和“9”；再数“8”和“7”，几乎一口同时数下来。

11 Sue looked out of the window. What was there to count? There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine climbed half way up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had blown away its leaves, leaving it almost bare.
苏朝窗外望去。外面有什么好数的呢？外面只看到一个空荡荡的沉闷的院子，还有20英尺开外那砖房的侧墙，上面什么也没有。一棵古老的常青藤爬到半墙高。萧瑟秋风吹落了枝叶，藤上几乎光秃秃的。

12 "Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now."
“6”，约翰西数着，声音几乎听不出来。“现在叶子掉落得快多了。三天前差不多还有100片。数得我头都疼。可现在容易了。又掉了一片。这下子只剩5片了。”

13 "Five what, dear? "
“5片什么，亲爱的？”

14 "Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"
“叶子。常青藤上的叶子。等最后一片叶子掉了，我也就得走了。三天前我就知道会这样。大夫没跟你说吗？”

15 "Oh, I never heard of such nonsense. What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? Don't be so silly. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were ten to one! Try to take some soup now, and let Sudie go and buy port wine for her sick child."
“噢，我从没听说过这种胡说八道。常青藤叶子跟你病好不好有什么关系？别这么傻。对了，大夫上午跟我说，你

的病十有八九就快好了。快喝些汤，让苏迪给她生病的孩子去买些波尔图葡萄酒来。”

16 "You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There goes another. No, I don't want any soup. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves."
“你不用再去买酒了，”约翰西说道，两眼一直盯着窗外。“又掉了一片。不，我不想喝汤。这一下只剩下4片了。我要在天黑前看到最后一片叶子掉落。那时我也就跟着走了。我都等腻了。也想腻了。我只想撇开一切, 飘然而去，就像那边一片可怜的疲倦的叶子。”

17 "Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old miner. I'll not be gone a minute."
“快睡吧，”苏说。“我得叫贝尔曼上楼来给我当老矿工模特儿。我去去就来。”

18 Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty and had a long white beard curling down over his chest. Despite looking the part, Behrman was a failure in art. For forty years he had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists who could not pay the price of a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who mocked terribly at softness in any one, and who regarded himself as guard dog to the two young artists in the studio above.
老贝尔曼是住在两人楼下底层的一个画家。他已年过六旬，银白色蜷曲的长髯披挂胸前。贝尔曼看上去挺像艺术家，但在艺术上却没有什么成就。40年来他一直想创作一幅传世之作，却始终没能动手。他给那些请不起职业模特的青年画家当模特挣点小钱。他没节制地喝酒，谈论着他那即将问世的不朽之作。要说其他方面，他是个好斗的小老头，要是谁表现出一点软弱，他便大肆嘲笑，并把自己看成是楼上画室里两位年轻艺术家的看护人。


19 Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of gin in his dimly lighted studio below. In one corner was a blank canvas on an easel that had been waiting there for twenty-five years to receive the first line of the masterpiece. She told him of Johnsy's fancy, and how she feared she would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker. Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt for such foolish imaginings.
苏在楼下光线暗淡的画室里找到了贝尔曼，他满身酒味刺鼻。屋子一角的画架上支着一张从未落过

笔的画布，在那儿搁了25年，等着一幅杰作的起笔。苏把约翰西的怪念头跟他说了，并说约翰西本身就像一片叶子又瘦又弱，她害怕要是她那本已脆弱的生存意志再软下去的话，真的会凋零飘落。老贝尔曼双眼通红，显然是泪涟涟的，他大声叫嚷着说他蔑视这种傻念头。


20 "What!" he cried. "Are there people in the world foolish enough to die because leafs drop off from a vine? I have never heard of such a thing. Why do you allow such silly ideas to come into that head of hers? God! This is not a place in which one so good as Miss Johnsy should lie sick. Some day I will paint a masterpiece, and we shall all go away. Yes."
“什么！”他嚷道。“世界上竟然有这么愚蠢的人，因为树叶从藤上掉落就要去死？我听都没听说过这等事。你怎么让这种傻念头钻到她那个怪脑袋里？天哪！这不是一个像约翰西小姐这样的好姑娘躺倒生病的地方。有朝一日我要画一幅巨作，那时候我们就离开这里。真的。”

21 Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down, and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was falling, mingled with snow. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, took his seat as the miner on an upturned kettle for a rock.
两人上了楼，约翰西已经睡着了。苏放下窗帘，示意贝尔曼去另一个房间。在那儿两人惶惶不安地凝视着窗外的常青藤。接着两人面面相觑，哑然无语。外面冷雨夹雪，淅淅沥沥。贝尔曼穿着破旧的蓝色衬衣, 坐在充当矿石的倒置的水壶上，摆出矿工的架势。

22 When Sue awoke from an hour's sleep the next morning she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.
第二天早上，只睡了一个小时的苏醒来看到约翰西睁大着无神的双眼，凝望着拉下的绿色窗帘。

23 "Pull it up; I want to see," she ordered, in a whisper.
“把窗帘拉起来；我要看，”她低声命令道。

24 Wearily Sue obeyed.
苏带着疲倦，遵命拉起窗帘。

25 But, Lo! after the beating rain and fierce wind that had endured through the night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last on the vine. Still dark green near its stem, but with its edges colored yellow, it hung bravely from a branch some twenty feet above the ground.
可是，瞧！经过一整夜的急风骤雨，竟然还存留一片常青藤叶，背靠砖墙，格外显目。这是常青藤上的最后一片叶子。近梗部位仍呈暗绿色，但边缘已经泛黄了，它无所畏惧地挂在离地20多英尺高的枝干上。

26 "It is the last one," said Johnsy. "I t

hought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today, and I shall die at the same time."
“这是最后一片叶子，”约翰西说。“我以为夜里它肯定会掉落的。我晚上听到大风呼啸。今天它会掉落的，叶子掉的时候，也是我死的时候。”

27 The day wore away, and even through the twilight they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to its stem against the wall. And then, with the coming of the night the north wind was again loosed.
白天慢慢过去了，即便在暮色黄昏之中，他们仍能看到那片孤零零的常青藤叶子，背靠砖墙，紧紧抱住梗茎。尔后，随着夜幕的降临，又是北风大作。

28 When it was light enough Johnsy, the merciless, commanded that the shade be raised.
等天色亮起，冷酷无情的约翰西命令将窗帘拉起。

29 The ivy leaf was still there.
常青藤叶依然挺在。

30 Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken soup over the gas stove.
约翰西躺在那儿，望着它许久许久。接着她大声呼唤正在煤气灶上搅鸡汤的苏。

31 "I've been a bad girl, Sudie," said Johnsy. "Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring me a little soup now, and some milk with a little port in it and -- no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook."
“我一直像个不乖的孩子，苏迪，”约翰西说。“有一种力量让那最后一片叶子不掉，好让我看到自己有多坏。想死是一种罪过。你给我喝点汤吧，再来点牛奶，稍放一点波尔图葡萄酒――不，先给我拿面小镜子来，弄几个枕头垫在我身边，我要坐起来看你做菜。”

32 An hour later she said:
一个小时之后，她说：

33 "Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples."
“苏迪，我真想有一天去画那不勒斯海湾。”

34 The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway as he left.
下午大夫来了，他走时苏找了个借口跟进了过道。

35 "Even chances," said the doctor, taking Sue's thin, shaking hand in his.
“现在是势均力敌，”大夫说着，握了握苏纤细颤抖的手。

36 "With good nursing you'll win. And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is -- some kind of an artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, and the attack is acute. There is no hope for him; but he goes to the hospital today to be made more comfortable."
“只要精心照料，你就赢了。现在我得去楼下看另外一个病人了。贝尔曼，是他的名字――记得是个什么画家。也是肺炎。他年

老体弱，病来势又猛。他是没救了。不过今天他去了医院，照料得会好一点。”

37 The next day the doctor said to Sue: "She's out of danger. You've won. The right food and care now -- that's all."
第二天，大夫对苏说：“她脱离危险了。你赢了。注意饮食，好好照顾，就行了。”

38 And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay and put one arm around her.
当日下午，苏来到约翰西的床头，用一只手臂搂住她。

39 "I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was ill only two days. He was found on the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn't imagine where he had been on such a terrible night. And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and -- look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece -- he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."

“我跟你说件事，小白鼠，”她说。“贝尔曼先生今天在医院里得肺炎去世了。他得病才两天。发病那天上午人家在楼下他的房间里发现他疼得利害。他的鞋子衣服都湿透了，冰冷冰冷的。他们想不出那么糟糕的天气他夜里会去哪儿。后来他们发现了一个灯笼，还亮着，还有一个梯子被拖了出来，另外还有些散落的画笔，一个调色板，和着黄绿两种颜色，――看看窗外，宝贝儿，看看墙上那最后一片常青藤叶子。它在刮风的时候一动也不动，你没有觉得奇怪吗？啊，亲爱的，那是贝尔曼的杰作――最后一片叶子掉落的那天夜里他画上了这片叶子。”

He did not trust the woman to trust him. And he did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.
他不敢相信这个女人居然会信任自己。他也不认为这个女人就不信任自己。不过，现在他不想失去别人对自己的信任。


Thank You, Ma'm
Langston Hughes
1 She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but a hammer and nails. It was about eleven o'clock at night, dark, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch the purse. The strap broke with the sudden single tug the boy gave it from behind. (1) But the boy's weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance. Instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk and his legs flew up. The large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then s

he reached down, picked the boy up by his shirtfront, and shook him violently.
谢谢您，太太
兰斯顿·休斯
她是个大块头女人，拎着个大包，里边除了榔头钉子什么都有。大约夜晚11点光景，夜深天黑，她孤身一人正走着，一个男孩从她身后猛地窜出，想一把夺去她的包。男孩从后面一记猛拉，包带断裂了。自身的体重加上皮包的重量使得男孩失去了平衡。他非但没有像原先希望的那样飞速逃离，反而两脚朝天仰面摔倒在人行道上。大块头女人一转身，一脚踢在他穿着蓝布牛仔裤的屁股上。接着她俯身拽住他的衣襟把他拖起来猛摇。
　
2 After that the woman said, "Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here."
3 She still held him tightly. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick up her purse. Then she said, "Now ain't you ashamed of yourself?"
4 Firmly gripped by his shirtfront, the boy said, "Yes'm."
5 The woman said, "What did you want to do it for?"
6 The boy said, "I didn't aim to."
7 By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look, and some stood watching.
之后那女人吩咐道：“捡起我的钱包, 孩子，把它拿过来。”
她仍紧紧地拽着他。 不过她略微弯下腰，好让他俯身捡包。接着她质问道：“你害不害臊？”
男孩被拽住衣襟，回答说：“是的，太太。”
女人问：“你这么做是想要干什么？”
男孩说：“没想干什么。”
这时，有两三个过路人停下来，转过身来瞧，还有人站在一边看。

8 "If I turn you loose, will you run?" asked the woman.
9 "Yes'm," said the boy.
10 "Then I won't turn you loose," said the woman. She did not release him.
11 "Lady, I'm sorry," whispered the boy.
12 "Um-hum! Your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain't you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?'
13 "No'm," said the boy.
14 "Then it will get washed this evening," said the large woman, starting up the street, dragging the frightened boy behind her.
“要是我松开手，你会不会逃？” 那女人问。
“会的，太太。”男孩说。
“那我就不松手，”那女人说。她没有放开他。
“我错了，夫人。”男孩低声说。
“唉! 你的脸这么脏。我很想给你洗洗脸。你家里就没人让你好好洗脸吗？”
“没，太太。”男孩说。
“既然这样，今晚你的脸得好好洗洗，”大块头女人一边说着，一边拖着惊惶失措的男孩沿着街道大步走去。

15 He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and thin in tennis shoes and blue jeans.
16 The woman said, "You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your fac

e. Are you hungry?'
17 "No'm," said the boy, "I just want you to turn me loose."
18 "Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?" asked the woman.
19 "No'm."
20 "But you put yourself in contact with me," said the woman. "(2) If you think that contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming. When I get through with you, sir, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones."
他看上去十四五岁，穿着网球鞋和蓝布牛仔裤，显得又瘦又弱。
女人说：“你该做我的儿子。我会教你分清是非。我现在能做的起码是把你的脸给洗洗。 你饿不饿？”
“不饿，太太，”男孩说, “我只想要你放了我。”
“我拐弯的时候碍着你没有？”女人问。
“没有，太太。”
“可你是自己惹上我的，”女人说。 “要是你以为咱俩的事儿马上就完了，那你可就想错了。小伙子,等我跟你完了这事以后, 你就会记住我露埃拉·贝茨·华盛顿·琼斯太太的。”

21 Sweat popped out on the boy's face and he began to struggle. Mrs. Jones stopped, jerked him around in front of her, put a half-nelson about his neck and continued to drag him up the street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a hall, and into a large furnished room at the rear of the house. She switched on the light and left the door open. The boy could hear other roomers laughing and talking in the large house. Some of their doors were open, too, so he knew he and the woman were not alone. The woman still had him by the neck in the middle of her room. 汗珠从男孩的脸上冒了出来。他开始挣扎。琼斯太太停下来，一把将他拽到身前，扣住他的颈脖，拉着他继续往前走。她到了家门口，把男孩拽进屋，走过过道，来到屋子后部一间有家具的大房间。她打开灯，让门敞开着。男孩听见大房子里其他房客在说笑。有的房门也开着。因此他知道除了他和这个妇人还有别人在。他们到了房间中央，那女人仍拽着他的脖子。

22 She said, "What is your name?"
23 "Roger," answered the boy.
24 "Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face," said the woman, turning him loose -- at last. Roger looked at the door -- looked at the woman -- looked at the door -- and went to the sink.
25 "Let the water run until it gets warm," she said. "Here's a clean towel."
26 "You gonna take me to jail?" asked the boy, bending over the sink.
她开口道：“你叫什么名字？”
“罗杰，”男孩回答说。
“这样吧，罗杰，你去那边水池洗一洗脸，”那女人说着，终于松开了他――罗杰望望门，――望望那女人――又望望门，最后朝水池走去。
“让水流一流，等到水热起来，”她说。 “这是条干净毛巾，拿着。

”
“你要送我去坐大牢？”男孩在水池前弯下身，问道。

27 "Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere," said the woman. "Here I am trying to get home to cook me a bite to eat, and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe you ain't been to your supper either, late as it be. Have you?"
28 "There's nobody home at my house," said the boy.
29 "Then we'll eat," said the woman. " I believe you're hungry -- or been hungry -- to try to snatch my pocketbook!"
30 "I want a pair of blue suede shoes," said the boy.
31 "Well, you didn't have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes," said Mrs. Luella Bares Washington Jones. "You could of asked me."
32 "Ma'm?"
“就你这样脏的脸，我哪儿也不送你去，”那女人说。“我一心想着赶紧回家弄点吃的,你却来抢我的钱包! 虽说已经这么晚了，恐怕你也还没吃晚饭，是吧?”
“我家里没人，”男孩说。
“那咱们吃饭吧，”女人说。“我想你是饿了，饿了好一会儿了，所以想要抢我的钱包!”
“我想要双蓝色绒面革皮鞋，”男孩说。
“是这样，你用不着为绒面革皮鞋就抢我的钱包，”露埃拉·贝茨·华盛顿·琼斯太太说。“你本可以问我要的。”
“什么，太太?”

33 The water dripping from his face, the boy looked at her. There was a long pause. A very long pause. (3) After he had dried his face and not knowing what else to do, dried it again, the boy turned around, wondering what next. The door was open. He would make a dash for it down the hall. He would run, run, run!
男孩望着她，水从脸上滴落下来。 一阵长时间的沉默。很长很长的沉默。男孩擦干脸，不知如何是好，就又擦了一把，随后他转过身，不知道接下来会怎么样。门开着，他真想一下子冲到过道。他真想奔啊，奔出去!

34 The woman was sitting on the daybed. After a while, she said, "I were young once and I wanted things I could not get."
女人坐在长沙发上。过了片刻，她说：“我也年轻过，也想得到自己得不到的东西。”

35 There was another long pause. The boy's mouth opened. Then he frowned, not knowing he frowned.
又是一阵长时间的沉默。男孩的嘴张了张。接着又皱起了眉头，他没意识到自己在皱眉头。

36 The woman said, "Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn't you? You thought I was going to say, but I didn't snatch people's pocketbooks. Well, I wasn't going to say that." Pause. Silence. "I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son -- neither tell God, if He didn't already know. Everybody's got something in common. Sit you down while I fix us something to eat. You might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable."
女人说：“呃！你以为我是要说 ‘但是

’，对吗? 你以为我是要说，‘但是我没抢人家钱包’。嗯，我根本没想说那些。”停顿。沉默。“我也做过一些事情，这些事我不想跟你说，孩子,也不想跟上帝说，如果上帝还不知道的话。凡人都有一些共同的地方。你坐下来，我来给咱倆弄点吃的。你可以用那把梳子梳梳头，看上去也好像个样儿。”

37 In another corner of the room behind a screen was a gas plate and an icebox. Mrs. Jones got up and went behind the screen. The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse, which she left behind her on the bed. But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room, away from the purse, where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner of her eye if she wanted to. (4) He did not trust the woman to trust him. And he did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.
房间的另一角，在屏风后面，有个煤气灶和一个冰箱。琼斯太太起身走到屏风后面。女人没留意男孩有没有想逃，也没去留意她留在沙发上的钱包。可男孩特地坐到离钱包远远的房间的另一头，坐在一个他觉得如果她想瞧，用眼角的目光就能看到的地方。他不敢相信这个女人居然会信任自己。他也不认为这个女人就不信任自己。不过，他现在不想失去别人对自己的信任。

38 She heated some beans and ham and set the table. The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beauty shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out, blondes, redheads and Spanish. Then she cut him half of her ten-cent cake.
她热了些豆子和火腿肉，摆好了餐具。女人没有问男孩住哪儿，家里有什么人，或别的会让他尴尬的事。相反，他们一面吃着饭，她一面告诉他自己在一家酒店的美容院上班，美容院关门很晚，告诉他美容院工作的情况，告诉他有各种各样的女人进进出出，有金发碧眼的，有红头发的，还有讲西班牙语的。接着她把自己用十美分买的蛋糕切了一半给他。

39 "Eat some more, son," she said.
“再吃点，孩子，”她说。

40 When they finished eating, she got up and said, "Now here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And, next time, do not make the mistake of grabbing hold of my pocketbook nor nobody else's -- because shoes got by devilish ways will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But from here on in, son, I hope you will behave yourself."
两人吃完后，她站起身来说：“好了，这10美元你拿着，去给自己买双蓝色绒面革皮鞋。下一次，可别再干傻事，抢我的

钱包或别的什么人的钱包――因为用穷凶极恶的办法搞来的鞋是要烫你脚的。现在我得休息了。不过，从今往后，孩子，我希望你规矩一点。”

41 She led the way down the hall to the front door and opened it. "Good night! Behave yourself, boy!" she said, looking into the street as he went down the steps.
她领着他走过过道，来到前门，把门打开。“再见! 要走正道啊，孩子!” 男孩走下台阶，她一面说一面望着街道。

42 The boy wanted to say something other than "Thank you, ma'm," to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but although his lips moved, he couldn't even say that, as he turned at the foot of the steps and looked up at the large woman in the door. Then she shut the door.
男孩想对露埃拉·贝茨·华盛顿·琼斯太太说些别的什么，而不是 “谢谢您，太太”，可当他下了台阶转过身来仰面望着门口这个大块头女人的时候，他的嘴唇动了动，却连这句话也没说出口。随后，女人把门关上。